The safety of abused children in Hennepin County is compromised because of an underfunded child protection system whose workers are overloaded and undersupported and lack "a sense of urgency," according to a report released last week by a national child welfare foundation.
In Hennepin County, 10 percent of maltreated children endured more abuse within a year, compared to 5 percent of maltreated children statewide, the Casey Family Programs found.
County Board Chairwoman Jan Callison said of the report, "It's disturbing, and we want to do better."
The Casey review comes as five children in Hennepin County have died from maltreatment since 2014, despite their caregivers being known to child protection, according to a review by the Star Tribune. The most recent victim, 2-year-old Sophia O'Neill, died last week, and her father has accused Hennepin County of failing to investigate earlier abuse.
Child protection has made it more difficult for abuse reports to lead to open cases using screening protocols that seemed "intentionally restrictive," according to Casey.
County rules barred screeners from asking questions that would allow them to gather key information.
When cases were opened, they were too readily directed to a program called "family assessment" where an abuser is not identified and held accountable. Family assessment appears to have been used as a "workload management strategy" to move cases quickly to closure, the report said.
Children who were identified as abuse victims were likely to be abused again at rates higher than national standards, Casey found.